Lawrason’s Take on Vintages May 25 Release

The two features of VINTAGES May 25 release provide a demonstration how commerciality affects wine quality, price and value. Pinot Noir has become globalized and commercialized and I was generally disappointed by the price-sensitive selection assembled. German riesling is not commercial at all these days and every single wine in the line-up is huge value. Elsewhere in the release I have scoured for surprising Wines of Interest; and I also veer off into the hidden world of Private Orders to present a slate of excellent Loire Valley whites to grace your summer table.

Pinot Noir Globalization

The heartbreak grape is now a global commodity, and along with that comes the demand to produce it in larger volumes at lower prices. It also means that it is being produced in places where the grape doesn’t work as well; that it’s being made in a wider variety of styles, and being made by people who are less experienced with it and sensitive to it. The result on the shelf, and on this release, is disappointing quality and value. VINTAGES mini global tour includes pinots from Ontario, Oregon, California, New Zealand, Chile and Burgundy, and the only wines I highly recommend are actually from Burgundy.

Some might say that makes me a pinot noir snob; that I am intolerant of and biased against New World style pinots. This is not true at all. I do like pinot noirs with nerve and elegance, which do tend to come from cooler climates, but I also like softer, riper styles from California (which I have followed since 1984), Oregon and Australia – and when they are well made, like Merry Edwards 2010 Pinot Noir from Sonoma, I have no problem scoring them well into the 90s. What I don’t like is excessive sweetness and alcohol in wines like Belle Glos Meiomi Pinot Noir that is commercially driven to appeal to a wider audience, and in the process disrespects pinot’s delicate fruit (the thing that makes it special in the first). And then there are high volume pinots like A To Z Wineworks 2011 Pinot Noir from Oregon that are just made with less care.

As to the Burgundies on the release, I am recommending two out of three, and they are of different styles. Domaine Chofflet-Valdenaire 2009 Givry 1er Cru ($26.95) is very much a traditional, edgy and meaty style that is packed with flavour. This is from an eleven hectare property in the hands of the Chofflet family for over 100 years – hardly a commercially-driven pinot.

And I very highly recommend Michel Picard 2010 Volnay ($41.95), especially as a pinot noir for the cellar. 2010 is a terrific, sturdy and tight vintage and this wine packs all kinds of fruit that will one day explode across the palate. With over 130 hectares spread across five appellations, this third generation family company is obviously of a more commercially viable size. This has helped keep the price relatively low (Volnay is among the prized Burgundy appellations).

Might Fine Mosel Riesling

Germany’s rieslings are of course not very commercial. The style is particular, the audience narrow. Germany has long lamented and analysed why its rieslings do not command a wider berth in the market, and converts keep forecasting a renaissance, that is not happening. And I have come to the conclusion that is just fine. Riesling is not a mass market grape anywhere it is grown (Niagara comes closest), and German riesling is even more idiosyncratic. But it is made by people who generally care a lot about their favourite grape, and that translates into high quality.

There are six new German rieslings on the May 25 release (including one In Store Discovery or ISD). They provide a golden opportunity for riesling fans to indulge, and for newcomers to explore at a very high level. Five of them are mighty fine Mosels that provide a clinic on wine purity and balance. All but two score 90 points or better, (the others score 89) so take your pick. How about a mixed six-pack, that will only set you back $116.75. You can spend the next six sultry evenings in June exploring hamlets like Urzig, Wolf, Krov and Wehlen.

And if you somehow miss trying these fine Mosels, make time to attend the German Wine Fair May 28 in Toronto for dozens if not hundreds of examples. Read our recent posting for a promo code that gives WineAlign subscribers receive $10.00 off the regular ticket price.

Other Wines of Interest

As always, in the thick of “The Main Release” there were several wines that caught my eye as Wines of Interest – wines that surprise, wines that instruct and wines that offer value. The selection is not just about the highest scores.

Vineland Estates 2011 Pinot Grigio from the Niagara Escarpment ($16.95) gets a tip of the hat for offering classic Niagara white wine freshness. The racy higher-acid 2011 whites from Ontario are just settling in to prime, and Vineland’s clean winemaking provides a fine showcase for the style and for the quite generous peachy pinot gris fruit.

Saint Clair 2010 Pioneer Block 10 Chardonnay from Marlborough, New Zealand is modern, cool climate beauty and well worth $25.95. On recent travels to NZ the quality of Marlborough chardonnay was one of my pleasant surprises, but producers are generally too busy with sauvignon blanc or tinkering with pinot gris. Still others think that chardonnay is passé (which it is not). But this single block offering from the Omaka Valley sub-region amply demonstrates that Marlborough has the wherewithal to be a great chardonnay region (too).

Miopasso 2011 Fiano from Sicily, is the oddball white of the release – with a totally unexpected richness and sense of exotica. The low yielding fiano grape is more well-known over on the mainland in southern Italy – especially in Campania. I have always expected a certain honeyed ripeness and sometimes nuttiness from fiano, but this goes well beyond into a state akin to lightly fortified aperitif wine (without excess alcohol). At $14.95 you can’t afford not to explore. And by the way, Fiano fans should also note the Australian version being released as an ISD. Saltram 2011 Winemaker’s Selection Fiano is rather pricey at $32.95 for what’s delivered.

Quinta De Cabriz 2012 Rosé from Dão, Portugal is the most interesting of the pink wines on this release and a snap up at $12.95. Regular readers will know that the reds of this higher altitude, granite soiled and forested region in the centre of Portugal have been catching my eye for their complexity, tension and value. This rosé from a prominent producer has exactly the same attributes, minus the colour and weight. I really like the subtle evergreen nuance herein.

Lornano 2009 Chianti Classico offers fine Tuscan authenticity and a certain rugged appeal and depth that is remarkable for $16.95. It is an estate-grown wine from the 180 hectare Lornano estate of Castellina in Chianti near Siena. Fermentation takes place in stainless steel but all the ageing is underground in older wood, which I think is providing the slightly rustic but very complex flavours.

After generally ragging on the appassimento process in a report last month, wouldn’t you know that one comes along to make me eat my words. Tedeschi 2011 Capitel San Rocco Valpolicella Ripasso ($18.95) has impressive power and tension as well, and excellent length – a marked improvement for this label after disappointments in the 2008 and 2009 vintages. Anyway, this embraces an authentic, richly textured, leathery style of Italian red that I really enjoy.

Château Lyonnat 2006 from the right bank, merlot dominated Bordeaux appellation of Lussac Saint-Émilion offers surprising depth and complexity for $19.95. And it is now entering prime time, offering a dandy mature claret experience. I was able to taste several wines from this producer during the Hobbs & Co portfolio tasting in April in Toronto, and I was impressed by the winemaking throughout.

John’s Blend No. 14 2008 Margarete’s Shiraz is from the Langhorne Creek region of South Australia. The area is very maritime and salty, on the shores of Lake Alexandrina formed at the mouth of the Murray River and only separated from the ocean by a sand spit. I swear I can taste some saltiness in this wine, but it actually works well within the larger, much larger framework of complex flavours. It’s a big, rollicking and rich cabernet from John Glaetzer, the former winemaker at Wolf Blass. And at $39.95 if offers good value in the big cab universe.

Loire Private Order Finds

As Ontarians faced what was made to sound like a certain LCBO strike, I also doubted I would get to taste much of the May 25 release due to the cancellation of a VINTAGES Product Consultants tasting just before the strike deadline. So I went off to seek alternate sources of writing material at a small, very civilized showcase of Loire Valley whites available on private order through Nuray Ali of Ex-Cellars Wine Services.

I entered a condo function room at a swish address in North York and met with Christophe Garnier, himself a wine producer, but also the head of a small export group of organic minded Loire estates. The eight wines shown were almost all of excellent quality, with great Loire energy and depth – muscadets, sauvignon blancs and chenin blancs that would make for very stylish summer drinking.

The hitch with Private Order wines however is that you must order by the case (six bottle cases in this instance) and you might have to wait weeks for their arrival. There is still time for their arrival this season, and the quality is such that the wines will drink well next summer as well. Only one is currently in stock through the Consignment Warehouse – Pierre-Luc Bouchaud Pont Caffino 2011 Muscadet de Sevre & Main Sur Lie. As it was among my favourites, and very well priced at $17, I purchased a case.

If you open this newsletter in time on May 23 you could take part in the Global Virtual Chardonnay tastings being held in Ontario and around the world in advance of the International Cool Climate Chardonnay Celebration coming up July 19-21. All the participating I4C wineries – 62 in all from eleven countries and sixteen regions are being encouraged to join in by posting tasting notes, photos and chardonnay recipes to social media sites. The Twitter account is @coolchardonnay; with hashtags #chardday and #i4c2013 for International Chardonnay Day. The Facebook site is https://www.facebook.com/#!/CoolChardonnayCelebration. The Pininterest site is http://pinterest.com/i4c/cool-chardonnay/. So pour yourself a glass of Chardonnay and get Social!

Macleans “Wine in Canada” Special Issue

The country’s most outspoken news magazine has launched a special 147 page perspective on Canadian wine. Its top news writers and editors have brought Maclean’s professional, pot-stirring perspective to the subject, aided by a troupe of younger wine writers/sommelier insiders – three of whom are aligned with WineAlign: John Szabo of Toronto, Rhys Pender of the Similkameen and Treve Ring of Victoria.

I like the way Macleans has parsed the Canadian wine story, ferreting out key topics and bringing their outsiders journalistic sensibility to bear. Thank goodness it is not another gushing, bland wine country travel guide. The Canadian Wine Annual, which I co-founded, and which died last year with Wine Access magazine, was a far deeper tome of useful information than Maclean’s offering, but it did not tell the story as well.

What I don’t like is a tone that suggests Macleans is the first publication to think about and report the Canadian wine story. It may be shiny and new to them, but it is not news to an entire previous generation of Canadian wine journalists and publishers who have slogged deeper, tasted more and toiled through the much harder, formative years. And I am sure there will be a whole battery of rightfully disgruntled B.C. winemakers and readers incensed at the editing muddle that buries Vancouver Island in the Similkameen Valley.

Omissions and small gaffes aside, the publication feels right – tempered to the times. It takes on the loony, legalistic morass of inter-provincial wine shipping. It hits all the buttons regarding the future, what we should be doing and where we go from here. The piece on Quebec exquisitely lays out the tensions brought on by its razor thin wine making climate. And the photography is superb. I am assuming from the masthead that photographer John Cullen is the man; and if so congratulations John for transcribing the character and inspiration that is required to make wine in this country.

And thanks to Macleans in general for turning the Canadian wine story up a notch. Canada’s winemakers should be very pleased indeed. When mainstream publishing thinks it can profit from a subject, you know you have arrived.

And that’s it for this edition. I’ll be back for the June 8 release. Meanwhile don’t miss the latest Episode 3-6 of “So, You Think You Know Wine?”, wherein Jennifer, Zoltan and I tangle with a Napa Cabernet that doesn’t really behave like a Napa cabernet.

Cheers,

David Lawrason
VP of Wine

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